


Sailor's Delight

by shedrovemehere



Category: Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: Drama King, Fluffy Angst, M/M, angsty angst, angsty fluff, drama ace, florida mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 05:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14128890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shedrovemehere/pseuds/shedrovemehere
Summary: Hiroshi Tanahashi happened to be in the neighborhood, halfway around the world. He doesn't exactly pay his old friend Shinsuke Nakamura a visit, and Nakamura doesn't exactly say what he's been thinking all these years.





	Sailor's Delight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vrekasht](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vrekasht/gifts).



> My dear friend T'Sora deserves every good and beautiful thing in this world, but will have to settle for this fic. I'm sorry I can't bear to write smut anymore, maybe I'll get over myself one of these days. I hope you like this :)

Hiroshi Tanahashi imagined his hair probably looked amazing being softly tousled by the warm winds off the water. He hadn’t been sitting on the beach very long—maybe an hour or so—and he didn’t really know how long he was willing to sit there. In any case, he figured he wouldn’t have to wait too long. Besides, the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico colored the sand golden and the sea a burnished red, and Tana could faintly see the first stars appearing in the sky. It wasn’t a sight he imagined getting tired of, and the lull of the waves allowed him to feel peace, just being comfortable exactly where he was. The waves were so soothing that he was still a little startled when he heard someone behind him, although he’d been expecting it since he sat down.

The person was silent for a long time, and Tana just enjoyed the silence along with his new companion. He had time to wait; he’d already waited this long. Finally, he heard a little snicker, and then: “You know, my condo is right over there.” Tana didn’t turn around, but from the corner of his eye he could see that the man he’d expected, Shinsuke Nakamura, was pointing to one of the many interchangeable brightly colored stucco buildings that lined the beachfront, different only in the shape of their terraces and varieties of plants in their immaculately maintained tropical landscaping.

“I know.” Tana said flatly, still not turning around to look at his old friend.

Shinsuke chuckled, and even though Tana wasn’t looking, he could see the smirk on Nakamura's face in his mind’s eye. “That’s very dramatic, Tanahashi.” He sounded calm enough, but Tana could hear that he’d started pacing; dragging his feet through the sand. “You came twelve thousand kilometers just to sit on the beach fifty meters from my lanai.”

“That’s how it appears,” Tana said with an unhurried sigh.

“Doorbells are a thing, or—" 

“I needed to know you’d come to me.” It was the thing he’d been thinking to say for weeks now, since he’d first known his travels would bring him to Florida, and it would only be a quick half day’s trip to find Shinsuke’s condo on the beach, where he stayed during his surfing trips. Tanahashi felt he there was so little he could trust; their connection was undeniable, of course, but Tana needed to be chosen, sought out. He needed to know he was worth making an effort, taking a chance. And he’d wait as long as it took.

“It hardly seems equal. It took me about two minutes to walk here, and that was because I stopped to take off my shoes.”

“But you came.”

There was a long silence, and Tana again focused on the sound of the surf, until he heard Shinsuke laugh a little. Another long moment of crashing waves and crying gulls passed before Shinsuke sat down next to his old friend, not touching him, but so close that unruly curls blew into Tana’s face a little when the wind picked up. Tana still didn’t look at him. After coming all this way, he’d have to earn it. “See that freighter?” Shinsuke pointed at an enormous shipping barge. “I think they’re so interesting, I stand here and watch them almost every day I’m here.”

Tanahashi laughed. “That sounds like a thing you’d do with your time.”

Shinsuke continued as if nothing had been said. “It’s interesting because you can tell what’s in them from the logos on the shipping containers—this one carries parts of planes. Think about that, it carries planes across the ocean. I think I’d rather fly, don’t you?”

“Where I’m going matters a lot more to me than how I get there. Where am I going in this scenario?” Tana didn’t expect Shinsuke to answer the question, but putting the thought in his mind was enough.

Shinsuke paused, and Tana could tell his old rival was staring at him. Shinsuke continued: “I watch these go by, and I think of those plane pieces, and how they’re going to go all over the world. But you know where the ship is going? Guess.”

Tana didn’t say anything, or make any indication that he might.

Shinsuke seemed like he hadn’t really expected an answer, anyway. “It’s going to Tokyo.”

“How in the world would you know that, Shin?” Tana knew Shinsuke must be getting to his point, so he couldn’t resist needling him a little, deliberately annoying him, delaying whatever dramatic and brilliant thing he was planning to say.

“… So when I see these go by, I always wonder whether those pieces of steel and fiberglass in those containers will be part of something that will bring someone from Japan to me.” Shinsuke almost sounded like his voice caught in his throat. “It’s lovely to think about.”

Finally, Tanahashi turned his head to look at the man he’d come so far to not-look at. Nakamura somehow looked younger, less cocky. He was wearing an expression Tana hadn’t seen before, one that looked far more earnest than he was used to Nakamura looking. Tana had to take a moment to regain his bearings, but he still grinned as he held Shinsuke’s gaze. “Careful, Shin-chan, you almost make it sound like you miss me.”

The unfamiliar honesty was replaced with an achingly familiar cocky smirk that played across Nakamura’s lips. He laughed self-consciously, and looked down at the sand, away from Tana’s searching eyes. “Miss you? Heh.”

Tanahashi knew his old friend well enough to know what that meant, to know it meant exactly what he wanted it to mean. But he hadn’t come all this way just to hear riddles and statements that implied feeling but didn’t admit it. There had been more than enough of that. He let all the bravado drop from his demeanor, and simply watched Nakamura, waiting for him to say enough.

“I always hope I’ll see one of the ones carrying aircraft parts to Japan. You can tell where it’s going by the label on it, by the way, smartass.” Tana chuckled, but Shinsuke continued looking at the ground. “I always wonder how many wings and propellors and engines and stuff can fit into a shipping container that size.” He shifted his posture a little, and now his arm was leaning on Tanahashi’s. Neither of them moved away from the contact. “Because when I see one of them, I imagine myself writing a message to you, just a small one, on each propellor and wing flap and whatever.” He smiled self-consciously, and met Tanahashi’s gaze, another new, jarringly honest expression in his eyes.

Tana was startled a moment, he resolved to make an agreement later with Shinsuke, that they couldn’t both drop the bravado at the same moment without prior agreement. It briefly panicked him, how exposed they both seemed, sitting on the beach at sunset; how maudlin. How appropriate. "America's changed you, Shin-chan," Tanahashi snickered.

Nakamura didn't parry the way Tana had expected, he didn't try to match Tana's detached wit. Instead, he just swallowed, and sighed. "I think you're right," was all he said.

There's no way to answer sincerity but sincerity, and this was new ground for both of them; not exactly welcome, but certainly not _un_ welcome. Tanahashi sighed a long, resigned sigh, and reached for Shinsuke’s hand, squeezing it like he never really wanted to let it go, and Nakamura returned the squeeze immediately. They sat like that for a bit, hand in hand, looking out at the waves together, again becoming aware of the ambient sounds of sunset around them, and Tana noticed a sliver of moon in the wine-colored sky. He looked back at the man he’d come so far just to look at. “You know, phones and emails are a thing.”

Shinsuke sighed and tapped their still-clasped hands on his knee nervously. “I was thinking: airplanes look like stars when they’re up high enough, so in a way, it’s like I wished on a whole bunch of stars.”

Tana was actually annoyed, at that. “And that’s better than sending me a letter… how?” This wasn’t a game. It never had been for Tanahashi, even if it was for Nakamura. One way or another, this was the end of the game. Tana glared at Shinsuke like he could beam that message into his head.

Nakamura looked upset, and stared at his old friend for a long moment, breathing deliberately, some unknowable battle being resolved in his mind. Finally, he raised their clasped hands to his chest, and raised his other hand to cup Tanahashi’s jaw, pulling him close and pressing their lips together. Tana was initially startled, but relented, letting himself fold into the feeling of the kiss, the sound of the waves, the light off the water. The kiss stayed soft and sweet, but full of potential, like it could become more as soon as it was given permission. Shinsuke pulled away and leaned his forehead on Tanahashi’s. “I’m sorry. After everything, I didn’t know how to say it, or whether you even knew.” He kissed Tana again, sweetly, smiling as he pulled away. “Will you visit my condo, now? I’ll make you dinner.”

Tana nuzzled his forehead against Shinsuke’s. “You’re ridiculous, you know. You could have cleared all of this up with a five minute phone call.”

Shinsuke tugged Tana’s hand, pulling him in for one more peck on the lips. “But you came.”

**Author's Note:**

> _Somewhere beyond the sea  
>  Somewhere waiting for me  
> My lover stands on golden sands   
> And watches the ships that go sailing  
> Somewhere beyond the sea   
> She's there watching for me  
> If I could fly like birds on high   
> Then straight to her arms I'd go sailing  
> It's far beyond a star  
> It's near beyond the moon  
> I know beyond a doubt   
> My heart will lead me there soon  
> We'll meet beyond the shore  
> We'll kiss just like before  
> Happy we'll be beyond the sea  
> And never again I'll go sailing_


End file.
